Current Issues Blog | Close Up Foundation

The Current Issues Blog, updated weekly throughout the school year, helps teachers connect current events to their students and classrooms. We know that teaching the news can be time-consuming; by the time you find important issues and identify how to teach them, they are old news. That’s where our blog comes in: unpacking issues in the headlines by providing relevant context, links to classroom-ready news items, and suggested prompts for thoughtful discussion.

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News

Crafting a Civic Vision: Close Up Fosters Civic Engagement with Student Symposium and Teacher Conference

February 01, 2024

WASHINGTON—The Close Up Foundation, through its National Network of Schools in Partnership (NNSP) division, brought students and educators to the nation’s capital in January for parallel three-day civic engagement conferences aimed at forging actionable plans for transforming their schools into civic hubs for community engagement. Student Symposium: Forging Future Leaders The Community Impact & Civic […]

The Debate About Urban (Re)Design in the United States

February 01, 2024

Amidst the mosaic of national debates surrounding climate change, economic justice, and public health, there is a growing focus on the intersection of these issues and the design of our communities. The overwhelming majority of U.S. households own at least one vehicle, and the number of vehicles registered in the United States has continued to […]

News

Close Up and A Starting Point Host Students for White House Q&A

January 31, 2024

WASHINGTON—The Close Up Foundation partnered with A Starting Point (ASP) to bring students from Maryland and Virginia to the White House on January 30 for a wide-ranging discussion with administration officials about youth civic engagement and policy priorities relating to energy, the environment, and the economy. Approximately 60 students and teachers took part in the […]

News

Close Up and the Arizona Cardinals Kick Off Civics Matters Arizona 2024

January 30, 2024

GLENDALE, Ariz.—Leaders of the Arizona Cardinals, the Close Up Foundation, and Greater Phoenix Leadership (GPL) gathered at State Farm Stadium on January 17 to kick off this year’s Civics Matters Arizona program alongside community partners and elected officials from across the state. Now in its third year, Civics Matters Arizona is an annual civic engagement […]

Foreign Policy Teaching the News

Middle East Conflict and the Regional and Global Impact

January 09, 2024

In the weeks since the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, Israel has conducted a military campaign with the stated goal of eradicating Hamas as both a military and governing organization.1 The death toll in Gaza currently stands at around 22,000 Palestinians and 170 Israeli soldiers, in addition to the more than 1,200 people Hamas […]

U.S. Foreign Policy Decisions in the Israel-Hamas Conflict: Part 2

November 29, 2023

As part of our ongoing series centered on the Israel-Hamas conflict, this post will review the U.S. foreign policy decisions. Part 1 of the series focused on the effects of the conflict within U.S. borders and the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia. To complete the series, Part 3 in the coming week will review how […]

Foreign Policy Government & Elections

U.S. Politics and Policy During the Israel-Hamas Conflict: Part 1

November 21, 2023

This is the first in a series of posts that will explore complex domestic policy, foreign policy, and global issues connected to the Israel-Hamas conflict. In the United States, there has been significant discussion and debate about what to do, both in terms of foreign policy and on the domestic front. In this series, we […]

News

Broward County high school students embark on Rally to the Tally for new Floridians

November 14, 2023

WEST BROWARD, FLA. (WSVN) – Approximately 300 foreign-born and newly arrived immigrants, Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) high school students, are set to participate in Rally to the Tally for new Floridians starting Tuesday. READ FULL ARTICLE>

Teaching and Discussing the Israel-Hamas Conflict

October 25, 2023

In last week’s post, we provided some background about what is happening in Israel and Gaza. In this week’s post, we offer some additional resources that could help students and teachers understand what is happening. Axios gathered a list of people, places, and terms that could help people engage with news stories about the conflict. U.S. […]

The Israel-Hamas War

October 18, 2023

The Hamas Attack Launches On the morning of October 7, 2023, the militant Palestinian nationalist group Hamas unleashed an unprecedented terrorist attack against Israel. Over 5,000 rockets launched from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip (one of two semi-autonomous regions of Israel designated for Palestinian residents). These rocket attacks were immediately followed by thousands of Hamas fighters […]